Strategy to boost motivation - email 9

Dear friends,
Thank you for the support I have been receiving from you. Please continue your participation in the online forum and reflect on your thoughts. It will definitely hel to exercise your higher order thinking skills.

By the way, I have put up a new poll with regard to your opinion on the online forum. Please use this link to go to the website:
http://www.nurulhana.com/course/view.php?id=2p
You will find the poll block on the left bar of the website page.

If you have not shared your expertise in teaching grammar, please go to this link http://www.nurulhana.com/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=25

You could also check out other topics or post your own topics to be discussed in the forum.

Let us make this community of practice (CoP) as a platform for us to share our best practices.

Hope to see you online soon.

Best regards,
Hana

Change Management 2

Taken from http://home.att.net/~nickols/change.htm
Fred Nicols, 2008

Four Basic Definitions

In thinking about what is meant by “change management,” at least four basic definitions come to mind:

1. The task of managing change.

2. An area of professional practice.

3. A body of knowledge.

4. A control mechanism.

he Task of Managing Change

The first and most obvious definition of “change management” is that the term refers to the task of managing change. The obvious is not necessarily unambiguous. Managing change is itself a term that has at least two meanings.

One meaning of “managing change” refers to the making of changes in a planned and managed or systematic fashion. The aim is to more effectively implement new methods and systems in an ongoing organization. The changes to be managed lie within and are controlled by the organization. (Perhaps the most familiar instance of this kind of change is the “change control” aspect of information systems development projects.). However, these internal changes might have been triggered by events originating outside the organization, in what is usually termed “the environment.” Hence, the second meaning of managing change, namely, the response to changes over which the organization exercises little or no control (e.g., legislation, social and political upheaval, the actions of competitors, shifting economic tides and currents, and so on). Researchers and practitioners alike typically distinguish between a knee-jerk or reactive response and an anticipative or proactive response.

To recapitulate, there are at least four basic definitions of change management:

1. The task of managing change (from a reactive or a proactive posture)

2. An area of professional practice (with considerable variation in competency and skill levels among practitioners)

3. A body of knowledge (consisting of models, methods, techniques, and other tools)

4. A control mechanism (consisting of requirements, standards, processes and procedures).

Change management

When I went to see Prof RM on the 6th of July, she mentioned about change management. Since I do not have enough data so far, she asked me to shift the angle of my study. Since I focused so much on implementing my strategies in motivating teachers to participate in the online forum, she said I should look into change management. I was unsure what she meant but I did not want to look or sound stupid so I told her I would look into that matter and review my literature review. Two things that she asked me to change. First, my problem statement and second my research questions.

Now, let me focus on change management first. What it really meant.

According to wikipedia, Change management is a structured approach to transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations from a current state to a desired future state. The current definition of Change Management includes both organizational change management processes and individual change management models, which together are used to manage the people side of change.

PCI (People Centered Implementation)

PCI is a change management methodology developed by Changefirst, which has been continuously improved since the 1990s. It has been applied in the field of people change management by organizations and their change agents in over 35 countries around the world.

PCI describes the six critical success factors that must be managed to build commitment to change initiatives and create behavior change.

1. Shared Change Purpose - create and share a powerful case for change in the organization
2. Effective Change Leadership - develop strong change leadership for the initiative
3. Powerful Engagement Processes - build and deliver plans to engage people in the change
4. Committed Local Sponsors - build understanding and commitment of middle and front-line managers
5. Strong Personal Connection - create commitment and behaviour changing actions for front-line people
6. Sustained Personal Performance - support people as they learn to adapt, managing their resistance sensitively and empathetically.

[edit] ADKAR

The ADKAR model for individual and organizational change management was developed by Prosci with input from more than 1000 organizations from 59 countries. This model describes five required building blocks for change to be realized successfully on an individual level. The building blocks of the ADKAR Model include:

1. Awareness – of why the change is needed
2. Desire – to support and participate in the change
3. Knowledge – of how to change
4. Ability – to implement new skills and behaviors
5. Reinforcement – to sustain the change

The role of the management

Management's responsibility (and that of administration in case of political changes) is to detect trends in the macro environment as well as in the micro environment so as to be able to identify changes and initiate programs. It is also important to estimate what impact a change will likely have on employee behavior patterns, work processes, technological requirements, and motivation. Management must assess what employee reactions will be and craft a change program that will provide support as workers go through the process of accepting change. The program must then be implemented, disseminated throughout the organization, monitored for effectiveness, and adjusted where necessary. Organizations exist within a dynamic environment that is subject to change due to the impact of various change "triggers", such as evolving technologies. To continue to operate effectively within this environmental turbulence, organizations must be able to change themselves in response to internally and externally initiated change. However, change will also impact upon the individuals within the organization. Effective change management requires an understanding of the possible effects of change upon people, and how to manage potential sources of resistance to that change. Change can be said to occur where there is an imbalance between the current state and the environment.

Review of Foo's paper

Title: Facilitating reflective learning among pre-service teachers through weblogging

Research problem:
ICT have not been effectively integrated in teacher training programmes. Integrating learning with technology helps to reduce digital divide among teachers. There are insufficient well trained instructors who have knowledge in both technology n instructional design.

RQ:
1. What is the focus of reflection in the weblog?
2. What influences the level of reflection in the weblog?

Literature review:
Foo touched on
1. New theories of learning

• deep learning & constructivism
• reflective learning & professional practitioners

2. The design of weblogging

• Dev't of weblogging
• Instructional functions of weblogs

3. Theoretical framework based on related studies

• journaling and reflective learning
• electronic journaling
• weblogging

Her Sampling: Purposive sampling: to investigate into the issue of facilitating reflective learning through weblogging. 6 pre-service teachers- handpicked - to provide significant weblog content (updated regularly, promptly and of acceptable quantity & quality- to ensure meaningful n truthful data which r sufficient to answer the RQ.

Miles and Huberman (1994) argue that sampling strategies for qualitative research should be driven by conceptual question, not by concern for 'representativeness'.

Miles, M. and Huberman, M. (1994). Qualitative Data Analysis. California: Sage

Other useful references :

• Bransford, J.D., Brown, A. L., and Cocking, R. R. (1999) How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience and School. Washington: National Academy Press.
• Chi, M. T. H (1997). Quantifying qualitative analyses of verbal data: a practical guide. The journal of the Learning Sciences. 6(3), 271-315
• Cohen, L., Manion, L., and Morrison, K. (2000) Research Methods in Education. London: RoutledgeFalmer
• Frankael, J. R., & Wallen, N. E. (1999). How to design and evaluate research in education. New York: Mc Graw Hill
• Jonassen, D. (1995). Supporting communities of learners with technology: A vision for integrating technology with learning in schools. Educational Technology. 35(4): 60-63
• Moon, J. A. (1999) Learning Journals: A Handbook for Academics, Students and Professional Development. London: Kogan Page, 1999
• Wilson, E.K. and March, G. E. (1995). Social studies and the internet revolution. Social Education 59(4):198-202

Foo's interview protocol- based on RQ 1 and RQ2
eg: prepare 3-4 Qs for each RQ

1. Protocol- establish rapport. Set the group at ease.
2. explain format of interview, open interaction, accept divergent views
3. prompt for more unanticipated answers using open-ended questions
4. issues/constructs outlined to be addressed flexibly - guided by participants' conversation.
   

For content analysis, Foo uses 2 instruments:
For RQ1, she uses coding categories based on the emerging data she collected- (aggregation of data)
For RQ2, she uses 'the reflective learning coding categories (Kember et al., 1999) - (interpretation of data)

Strategy to boost motivation - email 8

26 July 2008

Dear friends,

I would like to extend my gratitude to those of you who have participated and will participate in the online forum and I hope you will continue to respond to the forums from time to time. You may also add a new discussion topic for others to respond. The Noritake set is still available until the end of August to be rewarded to the most active forum participant.

There is a new topic posted for discussion. Please check it out at http://www.nurulhana.com/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=29
For those of you who did not have the time to respond to a discussion topic posted by Sara, you may go to http://www.nurulhana.com/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=27.

If you have not taken the poll or answer the questionnaire, please log on to the website http://www.nurulhana.com and click at the respective links.

If you still have not joined the website, you can still create a new account by clicking on the links above.

Thank you for your time and cooperation.

Strategy to boost motivation - email 7

Posted on 20th July 2009

Dear friends,

I have changed the color of the website. Check it out! Just click http://www.nurulhana.com/course/view.php?id=2
to view the website. You can give your view on the new layout by clicking at 'Our Space to Interact' and add a new topic.

If you could spare some time to participate in the discussion forum, I would appreciate it a lot. Click here if you wish to go straight to the discussion page http://www.nurulhana.com/mod/forum/view.php?id=104

For your information, Sara has initiated a new topic to discuss. Let's pour some ideas and put our thinking cap on. Click here if you would like to respond to Sara's topic. http://www.nurulhana.com/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=27

By the way, if you still have not signed up to the website, please create a new account by clicking at 'create new account' link. Fill in your username, password and your email address. You will need to verify your email address by clicking on the link given in your mail. Thank you for your time and participation.

Workshop on 'Qualitative Data Analysis in Research'

Date: 25 July 2009
Venue: Auditorium Faculty of Education, UM
Presenter: Dr Samuel Moses

Denzin identified 4 basic types of triangulation:

1. Data - time, space n persons
2. investigator - multiple researchers in an investigation
3. theory - using more than one theoretical scheme in the interpretation of the phenomenon
4. methodological - involves using more than one method to gather data.

* In qualitative research - the researcher is the instrument of the research.

Do we need triangulation of data all the times?
Traditionally we need 3 sources of data, but in qualitative research triangulation just means the other ways we take to confirm the validity of the data. Not necessarily 3, 2 would be ok as well.

There is no question of balancing the two types of data: qualitative and quantitative. It depends on the purpose of your research. Sometimes, we need to clarify the reasons 'why' to explain the findings, so we need some amount of qualitative data to help.

When analysing your data, you need to be explicit/transparent in explaining your assumptions, research and findings. You need to be explicit why you are doing what you are doing in determining validity of your research.

The value of triangulation lies in providing evidence - wheteher convergent, inconsistent or contradictory - such that the researcher can construct good explanations of the social phenomena from which they arise. (p. 15 of handout).

'good explanation' will depend on the data that we collect.